Growing indiscipline in city of Mumbai

There are signs of growing indiscipline on the roads of Mumbai. After retirement in the year 2003, I have been working as consultant in one of the leading telecommunications company of Mumbai till last October. It has been a nightmare for me to drive the car to cover the distance of 7 km from my residence to the office. It took me 30 minutes in the morning while going from residence to office and almost 1 hour in the evening to cover the same distance. I tried to hire the driver but it did not work out. Car pooling was not an option for me since no other colleague of mine stayed in the area where I stayed. Auto was ruled out since it was impossible for me to get an auto in the evening. Public transport was also ruled out since there was no direct bus available. So I had no option but to drive the car. Considering my age and poor eye sight, I was advised not to drive the car in the night time. Fortunately even at this age, my reflex action is quite good. On many occasions, I have been able to apply the brake of the car in the nick of time to avoid accidents taking place.

I have been staying in Mumbai since last 40 years.

I started driving at the age of 35. Initially, due to lack of driving skill, I came close to banging the car with other vehicles but fortunately, nothing serious happened. I noticed that the people were by and large very disciplined. Every body followed the traffic rules. The traffic density was also quite less as compared to what it is now. It was pleasure driving the car on the roads of Mumbai. But now, the scenario has changed. Number of vehicles have increased roughly 8 - 10 times over the last 30 years . There is no control over the issuance of driving licenses thanks to traffic police. Mumbai roads already have 3 -4 times more vehicles than what it can accommodate. Number of cars keep increasing day by day. God only knows what will be the scenario ten years from now. The condition of the road is extremely bad. There are numerous potholes and speed breakers every where. Speed breakers have mushroomed in the last couple of years. I wonder if they are going to help avoid accidents in any way. In fact, speed breakers have created new threats to the safety of the vehicle drivers. If you are driving in the night, you wont be able to notice the speedbreaker from the distance as there is no proper signboard or danger signal to alert the driver. Unless you are very careful and keep the speed of the car to below 40 km per hour, you will end up damaging your car and breaking your bones at the same time. Almost none of the traffic signals are manned by policemen. I wonder where have these policemen gone. Are they busy collecting haftas only. Vehicle drivers no longer have any sense of traffic rules. In the absence of policemen, they don’t bother to stop at red signal which poses great danger to vehicles coming from other directions. When I drive the car, even though I follow traffic rules, I am still not sure whether vehicle will come from other directions and hit me for no fault of mine.

Almost all Footpaths are encroached by vegetable vendors, fruit sellers etc leaving no space for pedestrians to walk on it. They are left with no option but to walk on the busy road. Pedestrians can be seen walking on roads along with vehicles. Drivers have to be extra alert to ensure that vehicles don’t touch any padestrian. If by any chance, the vehicle hits the pedestrian, the mob can lynch the driver.

Road rage is the common sight in the city of Mumbai. The drivers of vehicles can be seen fighting with each other using foul and explicit language over petty issues. It is very embarrassing at times specially when you are travelling with families. There is no sense of code of conduct.

It pains me to learn that even after 65 years of Independence from British Rule, we Indians still have slave mentality.